


Spelled Songbirds

by sophluorescent



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Witches, Career Ending Injuries, Dancer!Yixing, F/F, Femslash, Magic, witch!Baekhyun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24668467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophluorescent/pseuds/sophluorescent
Summary: You told me you would spell me a songbird, and the next morning, when I woke up miserable and on the verge of tears, one sang to me from my windowsill. And I smiled.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Zhang Yi Xing | Lay
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15
Collections: CHERRYKISSES FEST (Round 1)





	Spelled Songbirds

**Author's Note:**

> Written as a Self-Prompt for Cherry Kisses Fest Round 1. A little frantic on the deadline, for sure, and I have to thank the mods for the extensions, but I think I’m okay with how this turned out. It was… good to write, if a bit rushed.
> 
> Uh, for those curious, there’s a tarot reading at one part in the story—which I physically pulled myself for the purpose of the fic. And, all I’m saying is Baekxing soulmates. Additionally, the descriptions of the cards are taken from the Tarot Mucha visuals—it can change across different decks so, IDK if you feel like the cards are a little unfamiliar from what you’re used to, that’s probably why.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy, and if you do please let me know what you think ♡

The most crushing feeling in the world is defeat. It comes while she is spinning across the stage. She leaps and she lands. And all she can feel is the sensation as though her leg was unbraiding. The adrenaline keeps her from reacting immediately, and the sound of it is absorbed by the music.

That she continues to dance is when she becomes Icarus and flies too close to the sun. She enters her lift, despite faltering, and because she has made no outward sign of pain, her partner does not appear concerned. But, her focus is thrown, and when she lands from the lift, her fate is sealed.

A dancer already has a short career when put against other professions. She’s known this her whole life, and yet, she’s still practiced through thick and thin. She’s still made an effort to achieve mastery, because _this_ is what brings her joy. Ballet is, in her humble opinion, the purest expression of ones body—a dance that requires intense motivation and control, but which is perceived as a delicate, beautiful art. A dance with little attention given to the practice that happens behind the curtains, to the bodily exertion that’s required to make the dance look so effortless.

Though she’s known a dancer’s career was fleeting, she never thought it would be this fleeting.

She’s dragged off of the stage sobbing.

***

Quartz is a town with very little to it, in Yixing’s humble opinion. When she was younger, she would sit on the ledge just outside her bedroom window and play her guitar into the empty night. But, she did little else in the town. The woods were too intimidating, the adults were too dismissive, and the few children her age would go on to be sent to boarding schools sometimes hours away to receive a religious education, a strict upbringing.

Yixing’s parents let her explore on her own time, and when she expressed a love for dance, they sent her to the city—to one of the devoted academies—so that she might learn. They have always been like that, quietly supportive. A guiding hand that only reaches out when she is lost.

She’s lost right now, and that is the only reason she finds herself back home.

Her parents don’t even live here anymore—having moved back to China. But, when they had heard of her injuries, they had implored she go back to the family house and rest, without worry of what to do now that she did not have a career.

Somehow, the empty house and the knowledge that she has nothing to do, nothing to set an alarm for in the morning, nothing to practice for… it just drags her down into that familiar pit of numbness, one she hasn’t crawled out of since she was first hospitalized.

She rolls her shoulders back and shakes her head, as though to rid herself of such thoughts. Then, she catches sight of her reflection in the foyer mirror, takes in the bags under her eyes, the knots in her hair, and the thin-lipped frown seemingly glued to her face. A moment later, and she plasters a falsely optimistic smile on her face, walking the rest of the way into the house.

Yixing dumps her bags in the hall, and then goes to the kitchen to see what’s in the pantry, if anything at all.

There’s nothing with a good expiration date except for some teabags. But before she brews a tea, she may as well go grocery shopping. Get it over and done with before her mood shatters again and she can’t bring herself to do it later.

Outside is very little better than the house had been. The sun’s too hot to be comfortable, the air too humid to be relieving. And amidst it all, she realizes just how much—and how little—Quartz has changed in the twenty years since she’s last been here. The people are the biggest change. Rather than the almost rag-tag, slow-town sort of bunch she’d grown up around, now it looks like a mockery of it, with rich, well-to-do people and the overwhelming air of pretentiousness.

She’s not sure she’ll stay here long, if she can help it. Not if she’s merely walking down the street and already feels like a stranger in this place.

“Is that Yixing Zhang?” comes a voice, rattling her from her thoughts. She’s forced to look across the narrow street, to see who could have possibly recognized her.

Yixing has no recollection of the woman, but she still walks up to Yixing and starts fretting over her as though she were a child. It’s patronizing and strange, but Yixing’s not exactly sure how to stop it, so she just takes a step back. Which is then perceived as though she is shy.

 _No_ , she’s uncomfortable, but never mind the fact.

“Are you still dancing?” the woman asks, and Yixing’s placating smile falls immediately. To her credit, the stranger notices as well, and shuts her mouth—knowing she’s overstepped. There’s an awkward moment of silence, but the woman quickly recovers, touting off about how long its been. Then, “My son, Sehun, went to cosmetology school. He’s back in town, now, though if you want to stop by,” the woman continues, and only with that is Yixing able to identify her.

Yixing has a few hazy memories of Mrs. Oh, mostly of her helicopter parenting her son, so she clearly hasn’t changed much.

But now that she’s made the connection between them, Yixing does relax a bit. She’s got a common point now to talk her way out of the conversation with. “I remember Sehun liking my makeup,” Yixing reflects, letting a smile onto her face once more. “Where’s he working now?”

“Fantasia Salon,” Mrs. Oh says cheerily.

“Maybe I’ll have to go get my hair done,” Yixing says, making a mental note of the name. Though Mrs. Oh is a little too much, Yixing’s fond enough of her son and she’ll probably need to have _someone_ to hang out with now that she’s back in town. “It was a pleasure seeing you, Mrs. Oh, but I’ve really got to—“ She motions down the street.

Mrs. Oh pats her shoulder, “Of course, I’m sorry! Go on your way, I was just surprised to see you,” she pauses, “I hope you’re all right, dear. Take care of yourself,” and then she’s walking back to her car.

Yixing snorts and turns around, ready to make her way back down towards the grocery, except as she nears where it _once_ was, she finds it’s no longer there.

Instead, she stands in front of _Venus Herbs & Gems: Metaphysical Supply Store_.

She pushed open the door on impulse. A metaphysical store in _Quartz_ ; it’s hardly something she expects. Plus, she can ask the shop owner where the grocery store is (seeing as she’d left her phone at home).

The Venus Store, as Yixing decides to call it, is instantly a favorite. From the very first breath she takes in to the first scan she does of the opening lobby. It’s very… cottage-core, if Yixing were to describe it in any way. Ferns and other plants hang from the ceiling, a pair of cats walk across the top of a shelf, and crystals glimmer in the sunlight filtering through the windows. It’s all very… magical.

“Welcome to Venus,” comes a voice as rich as honey, sweet as candy, “Looking for anything in particular.”

Yixing turns around, her question about the grocer’s sitting on the tip of her tongue. But it peters away the very second she lays eyes on the shopkeeper, blinking at the puppy-like beauty and the unconventional dress. Were Yixing to imagine what the typical modern “witch” would look like… this woman fits the bill to a ’T.’

She shakes her head dumbly, then, straightens up. “Actually, I could use a little help. I used to live here back when I was a kid, and I _thought_ the grocery store would still be here—“

“Oh! Yeah, I bought their location a few years ago. They upgraded and now they’re on the corner of Center and Quarry,” the shopkeeper explains. “You know where those are, right?”

Yixing nods, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I do, thank you!” She looks around again, still captivated by the shop. “This place is really nice,” she ends up saying, “I don’t think I ever would have expected a metaphysical shop, here,” she continues.

“Oh yeah,” the shopkeeper says. Yixing peers at the nametag clipped to her dress—BAEKHYUN. “Which is odd, since we’re right next to a few mines and whatnot. They pull up crystals all of the time.”

Yixing nods, walking over to one of the nearby shelves, hand outstretched to pick up one of the pretty rose quartz clusters sitting on it.

Baekhyun stops her with a short gasp and a, “Oh—don’t touch, please!” that has Yixing pulling back her hand as though she’d been burned. She looks back at Baekhyun, eyes wide. To her credit, Baekhyun does look sheepish, “Ah, sorry, it wasn’t supposed to come out so… imperative. We just don’t like customers touching a crystal they’re not going to buy. Your energy could affect it and then it might not react as the person who actually buys it _thinks_ it’s going to react,” she explains.

“Oh, I didn’t know,” Yixing says, returning her hand to her side. “What does it do?” She asks then, nodding her head at the quartz.

“Rose quartz helps breathe love into your life,” Baekhyun quips happily, “self-love, relationships, healing—all of that good stuff.” She pauses, her gaze flicking down to Yixing’s knee brace, and then back up to her no-doubt tired face. “You _know_ , you look like you could use a little love. Why don’t you take it, on the house, as a welcome back home.”

Yixing immediately shakes her head, “No, no. I’m fine—“ She doesn’t want pity, and judging by the look Baekhyun had given her, this is what that is.

Baekhyun seems to read her mind, “I’m not offering it because I feel bad for you. I’m offering it because I think you’d benefit from it. The world works in mysterious ways, and there has to be a reason you ended up in my shop.”

 _Yeah, to find the grocery_ , Yixing thinks belatedly, but the look on Baekhyun’s face says she won’t be argued with. Yixing sighs. “If you’re absolutely sure—“ she begins.

Baekhyun nods immediately. “I am, bring it over and I’ll wrap and bag it for you so it doesn’t break between your trip to the grocery and back home.” So, Yixing picks up the cluster of crystals and brings it over to Baekhyun. In doing so, she notices there’s no price tag stuck to the rocks.

“How much is it normally?” She asks, curious.

“Eighty,” Baekhyun responds, dead serious. Yixing nearly chokes. “But don’t worry, I recently picked up a whole new inventory since one of the shops a town over closed down. Got all of their extra stock at a discount.” She shrugs, finishing bagging up Yixing’s crystal, and then holds out the bag, dangling on two slim, delicate fingers.

Yixing bites the inside of her cheek and takes the proffered bag, ignoring the way her hand brushes against Baekhyun’s. “Thank you, then, this was really kind. And, for telling me where the grocery is,” Yixing says, quiet, but charmed by the kindness.

Baekhyun grins, “It’s really no problem. If you need someone to show you around, or a new friend, you’re welcome to come back,” she offers. “I live behind this place, off in the woods a bit. Needed room for my chickens,” she mumbles.

Yixing laughs, but nods anyways. “I’ll be sure to come back if I’m ever lost again. It was really nice to meet you, Baekhyun.”

The shopkeeper’s smile softens, and she waves Yixing through the door, a pink blush to her cheeks and an affectionate glimmer in her eyes.

The warmth of her interaction follows Yixing to the grocery and back home that night. She finally takes the rose quartz back out of its bag, setting it down on the windowsill in her kitchen. It catches the sunset and sparkles warm pink fractals on the wood it sits on. It’s beautiful, in her humble opinion, and though she doesn’t feel any magical ease being around it, she does like the warm, fuzzy memory she associates with it.

She gets ready to crumple the bag and put it in the trash, but as she balls it up, she feels something hard still in it.

Peering back inside, she finds another stone—this time, set into a pretty golden amulet—and a crumpled slip of paper. She unfurls it and sets the necklace to the side.

> **Malachite** , a crystal for warding off negative energies such as nightmares, illness, and injury. Removes spiritual blocks and is used to relieve joint pain.

There’s a handwritten heart scrawled at the end of the printed identification tag. And though there isn’t much else to it, the heart and the thought behind the extra stone makes Yixing’s heart flutter. She immediately lifts the necklace up over her head, letting it settle comfortably against her chest and shoulders. It’s a bit long, and a tad heavy, but it’s _grounding_.

That night, she sleeps well for the first time in a long time.

***

“Long time no see!” It’s the first sentence out of Sehun’s mouth when she walks into _Fantasia Salon._ He’s currently finishing up on a client’s hair, but he raises his hand in greeting, a blinding smile on his face.

Yixing finds it easy to smile back. “Surprise,” she says, looking around, “Do you have an open spot for a walk-in?”

“Yeah, actually. One of my clients had to cancel and I was cutting her and her kids today, so I’ve got a huge block of time to fill. If you want, I can give you a cut and then we can grab lunch?” Sehun suggests, focusing back on his customer’s hair.

Yixing takes a seat in one of the empty salon chairs and plays games on her phone for the duration she’s waiting for Sehun to finish up. It doesn’t take long though before she’s sat in his salon chair.

“So, what brings you here?” He asks, running his fingers through her hair.

Yixing looks at her reflection, still sees that fatigue set into her very bones. “I want something different. Honestly, just… anything,” she ends up saying. “I trust you.”

Sehun’s eyes sparkle, despite the concern written all over his face. “I can do a surprise,” he decides, combing through her hair and getting ready for the cut. “Are you up for dye too?”

“Sure,” she says. It’s been so long since she’s cut her hair and she’s never had it colored, keeping it a standard natural tone since she began dancing.

Sehun ends up cutting her hair up to her chin, pulling away thick ponytails of hair. “You can probably donate or sell this, to be honest, since it’s never been colored,” he tells her. And she can only nod and wonder if this is the moment she ought to start regretting things.

Then, he takes out an electric razor and starts to go over the back of her head.

“You’re not making me bald, are you?” She wonders aloud, watching the motion of the razor warily. She can’t see what he’s cutting, has no idea what the back of her head looks like.

“No, but I think something short’s going to look great,” Sehun says, “You said you trust me, right?”

And she does, so she just hums and lets him get on with it. He chooses to fill the silence with chatter. “What brought you back to Quartz?” he asks. And Yixing could lie, but Sehun would see right through it. He’s also an old friend, so she doesn’t feel the same reservations about venting.

“Injured myself during a performance,” she tells him. “Meniscal tear, torn ACL, and a dancer’s fracture. But my waist’s been messed up for a while,” she explains, “so it was recommended I not continue, even after rehab.”

“Ouch,” Sehun sympathizes. “You got all three of those all at once?”

“I think I tore my ACL before a lift. And then the landing caused the rest.”

“Your partner still—“

“I didn’t tell him,” Yixing says quickly, “it was my fault. I should have stopped mid-performance, but I didn’t. I think that’s what _really_ sucks about it all,” she says.

Sehun hums, “And now you’re back here. Is it just to recover, or are you moving in permanently and looking for a job and stuff?” He wonders aloud, blow drying out her cut and then moving on to the dye. Yixing doesn’t look at the mirror, wanting a surprise.

“Right now, it’s just to recover. Mom and Dad didn’t want me to jump right back into things, so I’m here for now,” she explains, relaxing in the chair. “I didn’t expect things to be so different,” she mumbles.

Sehun scoffs, “You left for the city when you were twelve. Things change over the decades.” He continues to brush on the bleaching agent he’s using. “But some of it’s the same. I’m here, aren’t I?” They laugh together, then Sehun continues. “Jongin came back too. He was dancing at that international school his parents sent him to. Apparently it was super prestigious… and pretentious.”

Yixing can imagine. “Why’d he come back, then? This place doesn’t really have the opportunities, if I remember right? Unless, that’s changed too?”

“No, but maybe you should talk to him. He came back after a car accident ended his career, and now he teaches music at the local high school,” Sehun explains. He’s quiet for a moment, allowing that information to sink in. Then, he goes on, “Junmyeon’s also here. She got married a couple of years ago. She runs a boutique up in the square with her husband.”

And he continues to fill her in on the various faces that were gone and came back, or those that never left. There’s Kyungsoo, who apparently opened a restaurant (though Yixing distinctly remembers him wanting to go into acting) and Minseok, who works at a local gay club as a bartender.

It’s interesting to hear what became of her friends, especially since so many of them had their eyes set on dreams far different from what they achieved. She wonders how they reconciled with it. If they’re happy where they are now.

Because dancing was her dream, and she had pursued it endlessly. Yet, now, she had nothing and had never given _thought_ to anything else.

“I think you left the same year Baekhyun arrived though—“ Sehun goes on to say, nearly skipping over the topic entirely to start somewhere else. But the name-drop has Yixing curious.

“No, go back to Baekhyun,” she asks, “Can you tell me a little bit about her? I met her yesterday and she was really nice to me,” Yixing says.

Sehun glances down at her. “Baekhyun’s nice to everyone,” he says, but he does go on to fill Yixing in about her. “She’s really sweet, though. Moved here with her grandmother probably the same year you left. But her grandmother passed a few years after that. We thought she was going to go back home, where her parents were—“

“But she didn’t?”

“—No,” Sehun agrees, “It’s all gossip, but Minseok says it’s because they don’t agree with her lifestyle. Hence why her grandmother moved with her. I think the environment back home was a bit… toxic.” He pauses, thinking, “But she’s sweet. I go get my tarot read from her every so often—it’s fun and she’s easy to talk to, even though I don’t really subscribe to that whole shebang.”

“She does tarot?” Yixing questions.

“She does a lot of the divination sort of stuff. She’s actually good, to be honest,” Sehun says honestly. “From what Minseok tells me, she takes the whole witchcraft thing very seriously.”

Yixing shrugs, “I mean, it doesn’t harm anyone, so does it matter if she takes it seriously or not?”

“Nope,” Sehun says, popping the ‘p.’ They move on after that, Baekhyun forgotten as Sehun finishes up with Yixing’s hair and continues to catch her up on all things new in town.

When it’s all done with, and Sehun is cleaning off her neck and sweeping up the hair on the floor, Yixing finally looks at her reflection. And pauses, because… _wow_. Sehun was definitely the right person to trust, even though her new look is so… different.

It’s _short_ and it’s _pink—_ really more of a rose gold, but pink all the same. Somewhat of a pixie cut, just with longer bangs, the style is nice and surprisingly, it suits her—softens the angles of her face, yet compliments them as well. She never would have picked it out of the book herself, but… she’s pleased with it. “Sehun, this is amazing,” she remarks, running a curious hand through her hair, a grin on her face.

“I know,” he says, humble as ever. He puts away the rest of his tools and tells the only other stylist in that day that he’ll be taking her out for lunch.

And then they’re out.

It’s not until later that evening that she’s alone again—Sehun returning to work and she… left alone. They’d gone to Kyungsoo’s to eat, but he hadn’t been in that day—off on a business trip one town over, thinking about expanding.

So, she was left without much else to do except maybe go see if Junmyeon was around, or to the bar where Minseok presumably worked.

 _Or_ , go back to Venus Herbs and take Baekhyun up on her offer.

She finds herself walking back to the metaphysical shop, opening up the door, and stepping inside.

“Wow! What a change,” Baekhyun says without any other preamble. She leans across the shop-counter, eyes wide and bright, fingers tapping against the wood like she’s _itching_ to touch. “You look good in pink!” she crows next, mouth still open as though she’s flabbergasted.

“My friend Sehun did it, I wanted to catch up with him anyways, so I just let him do whatever,” Yixing says, by way of greeting, and brings one hand up to her head self-consciously. “It looks good then?”

“It looks incredible,” Baekhyun affirms, “Come here,” and Yixing walks over, letting Baekhyun run her hands through the new cut. It’s easy to let down her guard around the shopkeeper. Something about Baekhyun just feels right.

“Thank you,” Yixing murmurs, and then, remembering the gift Baekhyun had stuffed in her shopping bag the other day, she curls her hand around the pendant hanging against her chest. “And thanks for the amulet,” she says. “It’s beautiful.”

“Oh it’s nothing really,” Baekhyun dismisses, retracting her hand and folding it neatly over the counter. Her eyelashes flutter shyly, as though it _was_ something, but Yixing doesn’t give too much credence to it. “I just noticed your brace and malachite really does work wonders. I’ve had a few rings and whatnot made for a friend of mine that has some pain from an old car accident, so—“

“Jongin, right?” Yixing asks, recalling how Sehun had mentioned his return to Quartz earlier.

“Yeah! How’d you know?” Baekhyun wonders aloud, one brow raised.

“We grew up together, both went off to dance. He went to some prestigious boarding school, I went to the city academy. Sehun mentioned that he was back in town because of the accident and injuries… I think he was trying to comfort me,” Yixing says belatedly, a sadder smile on her face.

Baekhyun’s quick enough to put two and two together. The brace, the fact that she and Jongin are… or were both dancers, and Sehun’s quest to show her that she wasn’t alone… it all culminates quite easily. “Ah, then you’re here because you can’t dance anymore?”

Yixing nods, then waves it off—doesn’t want to go into the details, knowing it’ll remind her of just how little she has planned for her future as of yet. “It’s fine, really, but the gift… thank you for thinking of me, even though we just met and all.”

Baekhyun dispels the tension easily, cocking her head cheerily. “Kindness knows no strangers,” she quips, straightening up. “So, have you come back to take me up on my offer? I can show you around if you’d like?”

Yixing shakes her head, “If you want, but I honestly just wanted some company. Sehun’s back at work and I’m not really in the mood to catch up with my people right now. Too many memories come up.”

“Memories can be fond,” Baekhyun says, but she doesn’t press Yixing to go out and visit, instead, she twists the key in her cash register and rounds the countertop. “Anyways, I can definitely take you out, but I should go home and feed Mongryong first. You can wait here, or you can come along.”

Yixing decides to go along with her, following her down the dirt path from the back of the herb shop all of the way to a plot of land surrounded by chicken wire, with a pen in the back corner, a small pond for ducks, and a cabin-like house with flowers and shrubs growing in its garden.

Birds twitter and a dog barks, excitably, from the porch—tongue lolling out of its mouth—before it races down to greet them at the gate.

“This is Mongryong,” Baekhyun tells Yixing, stooping down to ruffle his fur affectionately. Yixing does the same, a little shy—she’s really more of a cat person—but the pup is plenty sweet, plenty gentle.

Baekhyun shows her inside, and while the cabin is small and distinctly… lived-in, it’s also quite neat. The plants that grow in the windowsills seem to perk up at Baekhyun’s entrance, and the wind chimes behind them start to ring together. It’s all as though Baekhyun brings a positive energy home with her, one that envigorates her living space and makes it feel alive.

Yixing comments as much.

“When you take care of your home, your home takes care of you,” Baekhyun says in response. “All the energy you put out in the world is what you get back. Of course, there are flukes at times, but… for the most part…” she trails off, focusing instead on filling up a pitcher of water and a cup of food for Mongryong’s dog bowls.

Yixing takes her inattention as an invitation to look around. She spots the chickens and the ducks from the window, as well as a basket of eggs on the kitchen counter-top. There’s a few crystals scattered around, jars of herbs and sand, among other knickknacks that seem like they probably have a _reason_ relating to Baekhyun’s witchery, but nothign Yixing can parse on her own.

“Okay, dog is fed!” Baekhyun says, wiping her hands on her jeans. “Now to explore, you ready?”

“Of course,” Yixing says, so Baekhyun takes her out, walking them both back to the town. Baekhyun shows her where different shops have moved over time, and where new shops have set up. There’s a whole new neighborhood as well that Baekhyun takes the time to describe to her—though she remarks the people are a little stuck-up, so she avoids it like the plague most days.

It’s fun, it’s bright. Baekhyun nudges her shoulder ever so often—she’s a “herder” when she walks, the type to constantly walk against someone and into their path—and grips her hand to tug her along to some new exciting sight.

She’s puppyish and touchy, and while Yixing’s normally _not_ , there’s something about Baekhyun that feels natural about it.

“You _know_ ,” Baekhyun says eventually, when they’re walking back towards Yixing’s house. “I do tarot readings—and not to toot my own horn, but… I’m pretty good if you ask me.”

Yixing smacks her shoulder, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. “Humble.”

“Of course,” Baekhyun jokes, “but really, you should let me read your cards for you. Sometimes, when you’re feeling lost, they’re good for grounding you.”

“Maybe,” Yixing says, “If you were to read my cards, when should I show up?”

“Tomorrow evening, and don’t worry, it’s on the house!”

Yixing sighs, but doesn’t argue with Baekhyun’s generosity, letting herself into her house. She casts Baekhyun a final wave, which is returned with a blinding grin, and then closes the door—alone once more.

***

Baekhyun sets out a few items before they start—a selenite wand (which Yixing’s told helps amplify energy), a collection of various crystals, and a few black candles (which ward off negative energy)—and then, pulls out a few different decks of cards. She holds each box up for Yixing to see. “Got a preference?” She asks, letting her look at the art decorating the boxes.

Yixing chooses the _Tarot Mucha_ deck if only for the woman that adorns the box cover. Baekhyun grins as though she’d expected it, shelves the other boxes, and frees the cards from the box they’d chosen. She shuffles them dutifully, careful not to bend or mark any of the cards, as well as not to show Yixing any of them, and then spreads them across the table—obviously practiced, as the row is even and the back of each card is visible.

“The first card in our spread will be interpreted for your present. Go ahead and choose it,” Baekhyun tells her.

She pulls the card to the far left and without looking at the face, passes it to Baekhyun, who lays it in place. She points back at the row of cards. “The second card marks a challenge keeping you from moving forward,” she explains.

Yixing chooses from the left side of the row again, just a few cards off from her first choice, and passes it to Baekhyun. It’s almost as though she’s compelled; there’s a _rightness_ to the cards she selects.

“The third card reveals an issue from the past that still affects your present.”

Yixing chooses the only uneven card in the row, one near the middle, that’s just slightly taller than the rest. She passes it to Baekhyun.

“The fourth card reveals a potential future for you,” Baekhyun tells her.

This one feels like the weightiest card in the deck. As though her choice here is _the_ choice.

She takes the card on the rightmost end, passing it to Baekhyun, who puts it in its place. Then, Baekhyun sweeps her hand over all of the unpicked cards and sets them in a neat stack off to the side, turning her attention to the still obscured cards in their spread.

She flips them, revealing, in order, the Upright Six of Cups, the Upright Nine of Swords, the Six of Wands Reversed, and the Upright Lovers.

Yixing peers at the art emblazoning each one, dumb to the meaning of the cards. Baekhyun, though, looks captivated as she glances over each pull and drafts up her interpretation for each of the cards.

“So, let’s start,” she says with a soft smile. “The first card,“ she points to it. ”Represents your present. You pulled the Six of Cups. This can be interpreted as a nostalgic card. See how it has children on the card? It’s a card of innocence and of childish spirit. This could be that you’ve met someone that embodies those characteristics—“

Yixing’s mind immediately flits to Baekhyun, whose playfulness, whose honest kindness has urged her out of her shell.

”—Or it can be much simpler. You just returned to your childhood home, so the memories of that return might stir up the Six of Cups, which is why it showed up in your reading. It suggests staying in tune with that childish side of yourself, and to find happiness in the small things,” Baekhyun completes her interpretation, tapping the card with a little smile. “Sound like it applies?” She questions, glancing from the cards to Yixing.

Yixing nods, eyes glittering curiously, “It does. I have a feeling I know what it’s referring to,” she murmurs.

Baekhyun cocks her head, a brow arched quizzically, but doesn’t press for Yixing to explain. Instead, she goes back to the cards, this time, tapping the second card Yixing had pulled. “Then, moving on, we’ve got your first challenge card. Something that’s holding you back. In this case, you pulled the Nine of Swords.” Baekhyun pauses for a moment, regarding the card with a more concentrated look.

She seems to clear her head, and begins to explain the card. “You see a woman with her head in her hands, sat in her bed. This is an anxious sort of card. A weary card. It tends to get associated with deep depressions in our lives, or fears that haven’t ever settled,” Baekhyun trails off again, eyes almost glassy, as though this card holds specific meaning to _her_ as well. “It’s a cry for help,” she ends up saying, “Or, it’s a suggestion that you need to ask for help—if you haven’t already. Something’s weighing on you, and it’s asking you to relieve it.”

She looks up, catching Yixing’s gaze. “Sorry, the swords can be a bit heavy sometimes,” she explains. “Do you want to talk about it?”

The _it_ that the card refers to. Yixing’s not sure what it is, but she has reason to believe it’s rooted in her fear of failure, of the crushing haunt that she _has_ failed and will continue to fail. Perhaps it’s related to her fear of the future, of what she’ll be. What is she recovering for? If anything at all?

“I don’t,” she mumbles, it’s not time to get into that, and certainly not with Baekhyun—who, while friendly, isn’t anything more than that… yet.

Baekhyun nods, doesn’t question it, and moves to the next card. “The third card is your second challenge card, but this one refers to something from the past that are still affecting you, even if you think you’ve let it go. The Six of Wands depicts a knight and a wreath—he’s a victor in his tournament,” Baekhyun points out, flipping the card upright so that Yixing can see it properly. “But, you pulled it in its inverted position, which complicates things.” She smiles at the sigh Yixing lets out.

“It suggests that you may have reached a milestone that, instead of receiving credit for, or being lauded for, you may have kept it to yourself. _Or_ , you could have told someone about an acheivement and then not received a positive reaction, as you thought you might,” Baekhyun explains. “A lot of times, this can culminate in an insecurity or a worry that doesn’t really leave you behind, hence why this card would be the one you pulled. It’s probably something small that you might not even be able to identify. So, to work your way out of it, the suggestion is to work on your self-confidence and self-love.”

Yixing nods slowly, “The cards don’t give a lot of answers, do they?” She asks.

Baekhyun shakes her head, “No, but they suggest a lot of things. When you interpret tarot, or have it interpreted for you, it’s important to remember that the cards are not… _set_. You have to manifest them, consciously or unconsciously. They act as markers of that manifestation, it’s how you influence your choices.” She pats the stack of cards sitting on the side. “But no card is definite. It’s why you shouldn’t let them scare you, but also why you shouldn’t be too confident in them. Some cards are more out of your control than others—like the Tower—but many of them are about personal manifestation and choice.”

Yixing hums, “So, I could pretend like I never saw these cards and nothing would happen.”

“Perhaps,” Baekhyun quips, grinning. Her mood lightens significantly now that she looks to the last card, the Lovers. “Your last card was your future insight,” Baekhyun says, redirecting the attention back to the spread. “You pulled the Lovers, which are the card of harmonious balance and vulnerability. You see man and woman, naked and exposed. And behind them, there is God, the Fire, and the rest of the Garden of Eden.”

Baekhyun thumbs the card almost lovingly. “But the lovers only have attention for one another. In this position, since you’re single, it could hint to a relationship on the horizon—the type of relationship that’s satisfying on a spiritual level. Soulmate type of stuff,” she goes on, “but it also helps point to a love for yourself, an attention towards yourself. You have a harmonious future in store, if basically what the card explains. _If_ you can satisfy all of the challenges before you,” she gestures to the two more negative cards Yixing had pulled.

“It’s a bit scary, don’t you think?” Yixing mutters, glancing at the card’s art.

“I don’t think so,” Baekhyun argues. “Sure, there’s literally personified Judgement in the background, but it doesn’t bother the Lovers. They don’t even care about the fire, often styled as Condemnation, blazing behind them. They have security in each other. Trust in one another.”

Baekhyun straightens up and blows out all of the candles. “If you want, you can take a picture of the spread and look up the meanings at home—if that’s something that interests you?”

“Yeah, sure,” Yixing says, pulling out her phone. She passes it to Baekhyun, who takes a picture of the spread as it had faced her. After snapping the picture, she hands Yixing’s phone back and scoops up all of the cards, returning them to the deck, and the deck to its box. She shelves it and all of the crystals and candles she’d pulled out with it.

Then she’s turning around, “Do you have plans for tonight?”

“Not really,” Yixing says.

“You should come to dinner with me, then. I mean—only if you want to, but… the invitation has been extended,” Baekhyun says, a blush painting her cheeks.

“Then I’ll come,” Yixing says graciously. Baekhyun takes her out to the town center, to a little café wedged between two larger boutiques.

“Jongdae!” Baekhyun calls out and a face appears from behind the counter, warm and cheery.

Jongdae’s a man with a cat-like grin, sparkling eyes, and the inherent aura of gentleness (and also mischief). The way he greets Baekhyun with open adoration and friendship raises warning bells in Yixing’s head, though. Like she may be falling for a girl who’s already involved. “Baekhyun, it’s good to see you, and your friend.” He extends a hand to her as they both walk up to the counter, “Jongdae Kim. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Yixing Zhang,” she says, shaking his hand, “and likewise.”

Baekhyun orders for the both of them, obviously picking the best dishes off of the menu with a familiarity unmatched by anyone except those who have been to this place countless times. “And we’re going to sit by the window,” she says, finishing the order.

Yixing gets her card out, shushing Baekhyun before she can even argue. “Let me pay since you’ve already done so much for me,” and she slides her card to Jongdae. He rings them up—it’s really quite cheap—and then, they both go to sit by the window-side.

The evening light pours in, golden and fine, lighting up the room. It’s beautiful and serene. Yixing likes the place already, even if she can’t quite call it a date now that Jongdae’s added to her reservations.

“So, what brings you back to Quartz, Xing-ah? I know you said you got injured dancing, but… you could have gone anywhere. Why here?”

Yixing sighs, “I think some small part of me missed home. I mean my parents aren’t here anymore—they moved back to China—but when I first left this place when I was twelve I left a lot of loose strings.” She smooths her hands down her thighs, “I guess I wanted some solace in coming back before I tried moving forward again.”

“Solace is always good,” Baekhyun murmurs, “How old are you then?”

“I’m thirty-four,” Yixing says. “You?”

“Thirty-two,” Baekhyun answers. “So, we’re close in age. You’ve been gone for a while, then, what, twenty-two years?”

“Sounds about right.”

Jongdae rounds the counter with a basket of bread and a bowl of olive oil and other spices for dipping. He sets it on the table just as he says, “And you never came to visit during those twenty-two years.” It has Yixing looking up at him, confused and curious. Because how would _he_ know that about her—they’ve only just met. “My wife mentioned it,” he says, “Junmyeon. She heard you were back in town from Ms. Oh and was lamenting how you’ve yet to visit.” He raises an eyebrow.

“Oh,” Yixing’s at a loss for words, though Baekhyun’s gaze flicks between them curiously. “I’ve been meaning to stop by, it’s just that… well I’m trying to settle in first before I go visiting everyone again.”

Jongdae nods congenially, “I figured as much. Junmyeon’s just dramatic. I’ll tell her I saw you, though. You ought to come by another day, when she’s in on her lunch break. She works the boutique next door,” he tells her. And with that, he’s gone.

Baekhyun snorts, “Don’t interrupt,” and then she turns back to Yixing. “Where were we? Oh, tying up loose strings, right? Are you going to move away after that?”

“I honestly haven’t thought that far ahead,” Yixing says, “I’m here to recover, but I have no idea what I’m doing after that. I mean, I could go back to China where my parents are, but I’d still be figuring out what I want to do career-wise. I don’t know… I’m a lost ball in high weeds right now,” she explains.

Baekhyun’s nose crinkles at the metaphor, a boxy-grin shaping on her face. “Well, what if you don’t leave here? You could always get a job at one of the shops, or maybe at the school, or… well, who knows.”

“I’m thinking about it, I’m just not sure… yet,” Yixing says with a softer smile. She leans back in her seat, but snags a piece of bread, dipping it in the oil before popping it into her mouth. “Tell me a little bit about yourself, Baekhyun. You seem to know more and more about me, but I know so little about you.”

Baekhyun straightens up as though under a spotlight. “Well, I moved to Quartz when I was ten and I’ve been here ever since. My grandmother supported me a lot of the way, she’s actually how I came to own Venus. I owe a lot to her,” she says. “I’m from the town over, Bridgewater, but I don’t visit much.”

“Oh?”

“My parents and I don’t get along,” Baekhyun says, if a touch sadly. She chews on a piece of bread. “They don’t agree with my lifestyle, but it’s all right. I manage fine without them.” And she sits back, blithe cheer overcoming her once more. “Venus is my baby now. I get to meet all of the little rebellious kids who are looking for their first tarot deck, and all the old medicine-women types. It’s really a super chill crowd that comes through my doors.”

“Are they all into magic?”

“Some of them, others just need herbs that they know I carry. I like the magic, though, so I try to leave everyone with a spell.”

Yixing cocks her head, “And how’s that work?”

“Well,” Baekhyun murmurs, seemingly at a loss, “It’s not always… visibly manifested. But, I believe in it. It’s little thoughts you put out into the universe in the hope it answers back. It’s the trust you put in nature’s gifts.”

Yixing nods even if she’s not one to agree with the theory. She’s always been more of a realist. A work hard for your dreams without much thought to any higher power, any universal magic.

“I like to send little thoughts out for my patrons. Like for you, I thought it’d be nice if a songbird sang to you whenever you felt down. So, _maybe_ that’ll manifest for you—just a little pick-me-up.”

“You’re cute,” Yixing says in response, flattered at the kindness that exudes from the little woman. “You do this for all your customers?”

“Of course,” Baekhyun says, accepting her plate from Jongdae as he comes back to the table. “Like I said, the work you put out into the universe always comes back to you. And I got tired of feeling like crap,” she says easily. “Not that I treated people like that—more so I was treated that way—but… I’ve cut those people out of my life and now I intend to do my very best never to feel like that again.”

“You can’t always avoid it,” Yixing murmurs pessimistically.

“Maybe not, but it’s nice not to… think negatively all of the time. It’s been good for me, sloughing off my problems and hoping that if I put in the work, they’ll get better.”

Yixing nods. “I guess that’s a good philosophy to have.”

Baekhyun smiles then, perfectly happy, and digs into her food.

***

Yixing wakes up in the morning, before the sun is up, when the sky is grey—perhaps even lilac. And her heart thuds against her chest, first from anxiety, from the panic of her nightmare, and then, from the crushing realization that her nightmare didn’t end when she woke up.

She had been replaying the scene of her last performance, except when she landed this time, the pain was too sharp, too bright, and that’s what had startled her awake. Awake and afraid that she might never return to the stage.

She used to have dreams like that when she still _could_ dance. But now, it leaves a more sour taste in her mouth. Because now, it’s no mere dream.

And just that has her sitting up and dropping her head into her hands, tears brimming on her lashes, shoulders shaking with a sob.

Until…

It’s a songbird, just a mere swallow really, sat in her open windowsill, framed by gently fluttering curtains, silhouetted by the moon outside. And it’s singing.

Yixing immediately thinks of what Baekhyun had said in the restaurant. Of how she “spells” a little something for each of her visitors.

Part of her aches, because Baekhyun had known she was hurt enough to need this. The _universe_ feels her pain acutely enough to send her this.

But the other part of her rejoices with a childish sort of affection. Because, even if its some stray coincidence… she’ll allow herself, just this once, to chalk it up to magic.

Once the swallow finishes singing and flits away, she gets dressed on auto-pilot, slipping on a raggity old t-shirt and a pair of shorts. Then she slips her feet in a pair of flip-flops, and leaves her home despite the early morning, despite the way night clings to the sides of buildings, deep, dark shadows curling towards her menacingly.

She finds herself walking past Venus Herbs and down the path to Baekhyun’s house. Where the lights are on despite the obscenely early hour. She can see Baekhyun’s two cats—she never did ask their names—sleeping in the window sill. And then, she sees Baekhyun, puttering around in her kitchen, tea kettle in hand.

She walks up the porch and knocks on the door.

Mongryong barks on the other side and Yixing can hear both cats startle and bolt off to hide. And behind all of that, she can hear Baekhyun setting the tea kettle down, cursing, and then, as she patters over to the door.

She opens it a crack and peers outside.

“I know it’s… ridiculously early,” Yixing starts, “but you told me you would spell me a songbird, and I woke up from a nightmare ready to cry… but there was one there, a songbird, and it sang to me.” She knows she’s rambling, and crying a little bit, but Baekhyun says nothing mean. She just opens the door wider, her face uniquely soft, and pulls Yixing into a hug as warm as a blanket.

“Stay here, tonight,” she murmurs, and ushers Yixing inside. “Really… stay here any night.”

***

“All right, what _are_ you and Baekhyun?” Junmyeon asks one day. In the couple of months it’s been since Yixing moved back to Quartz, she finally _did_ go visit with Junmyeon—and, she took up the woman’s offer to work with her. It gives Yixing something to do while Baekhyun handles her shop. She’d have loved to work at Venus, but there’s really not enough to do that’ll keep _both_ of them busy.

So, working at _O2_ it had been.

“Well, we’re dating,” Yixing remarks, already knowing Junmyeon’s supportive of all that—Quartz in general leans more progressive and open-minded as a whole, to be fair. “It’s been like a month, I think?”

“You don’t keep track?” Junmyeon teases.

“Do I look like someone that does?” Yixing returns, grinning. “Baekhyun doesn’t keep track either, so I don’t feel bad about it.”

Junmyeon hums, refolding a stack of shirts on display, “I think you’re both good for each other,” she says.

“Is that so?” Yixing wonders aloud.

“Yeah. Baekhyun needs someone to keep her grounded, and you need someone to help you dream,” Junmyeon says. “Jongdae and I are both rooted down, so he’d call us boring.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Junmyeon says, sighing. “But that’s good for us. You need more. Dancing was a dream, but now that you don’t have that… perhaps you’ll find something with Baekhyun.”

Yixing thinks back to it, to dancing. The feeling, the passion of it all… she’s never found anything like it. But the elation she feels around Baekhyun, the easiness of all of their interactions, the way Baekhyun’s _there_ for her… she’s never felt anything like _that_ either.

It’s not the same, but it’s just as comparably good.

“Speak of the devil,” Junmyeon remarks, nodding her head at the door. Sure enough, Baekhyun’s stood outside, a wicker picnic basket in hand, a handmade blanket thrown over her arm. She waves at the both of them.

Yixing looks to Junmyeon, who shakes her head, “Yeah, go ahead, have lunch with your girlfriend. Ah—young love.”

“We’re the same age,” Yixing reminds her, practically skipping out of the store. “Hi,” she breathes, leaning in for a quick kiss. Baekhyun grins against her lips, unable to drop her smile long enough for them to _properly_ kiss. But it’s sweet all the same.

“I brought lunch. I though we could go eat by the reservoir.”

“Romantic,” Yixing teases.

“It is! The water’s pretty with the sun reflecting on it,” Baekhyun says, “Don’t be mean.”

“I’d never,” Yixing says, taking the basket from Baekhyun’s hands and following her out of town, into the woods, out towards the reservoir. And when they get there, songbirds flutter around the clearing, the sun glints up at them, and everything feels right with the world.

Baekhyun spreads out the blanket, then sprawls out across it, leaving Yixing to set down the basket and take out the food she’d packed. Yixing looks over once she’s fixed a plate, and finds Baekhyun watching her, eyes glittering with affection.

“What’s on your mind?” Yixing asks, passing her a plate.

Baekhyun takes it gratefully, “Just thinking about how I’ve scored the prettiest girl in the world.”

Yixing blushes despite herself, looking away bashfully. “That can’t be right,” she says.

“Why not?” Baekhyun asks, affronted for a moment—wondering if she has to affirm Yixing. She doesn’t. Yixing’s perfectly confident.

“Because _I’ve_ got the prettiest girl in the world.”

They laugh in tandem, delighted. And all Yixing can think is that she’d like for this feeling never to end.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to do more with these two later, but for now, I hope you enjoyed! Thank you so much for reading!


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